# From what perspective is the American Revolutionary War taught to British schoolchildren? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 3, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456 "2010-07-03T21:23:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456/281 "2010-07-09T14:43:39Z")
Oh, fuck. I remember the corn laws. _shudder_ ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456/282 "2010-07-09T15:12:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Oh, fuck. I remember the corn laws. > > _shudder_ I seem to remember I covered crop rotation about ten times. At least it felt like that. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456/283 "2010-07-09T15:18:48Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Oh, fuck. I remember the corn laws. > > _shudder_ Sounds as exciting as _Medievel Irish Land Tenure and The Church._ ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456/284 "2010-07-09T15:44:41Z")
I maintain that if 20th-century British history was taught using P.G. Wodehouse stories every student would immediately improve. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456/285 "2010-07-09T15:57:25Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I maintain that if 20th-century British history was taught using P.G. Wodehouse stories every student would immediately improve. What Ho! I mean, I say, rather. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456/286 "2010-07-09T15:57:36Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > I seriously think that the topics given us in senior school were chosen as some sort of character test to see if we could still study and absorb knowledge about subjects that seemed to have little relevance to us and that were dull as ditchwater. Yeah, absolutely agree. I love history but all I can remember of 2 years of secondary school history classes is our teacher’s valiant but doomed attempt to reenact the Spartans’ (valiant but doomed) defence of Thermopylae by standing between two rows of desks pretending to be brandishing a spear. 😃 And we definitely didn’t do nuffing about the Kerfuffle in the Kolonies. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456/287 "2010-07-09T20:06:25Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Oh, fuck. I remember the corn laws. > > _shudder_ OMG the Corn Laws. Studied them for months, it felt like, and all I can remember is There were some laws…something to do with farming, _maybe_…but I could be wrong on that point. Serioulsy, that’s it. And I LOVE history. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456/288 "2010-07-09T20:20:40Z")
A common refrain I hear from many who, later in life, enjoyed history tremendously, was that they did not enjoy history when taught as a subject in high school. My theory is that this has three basic causes: 1. Often, history is taught with a particular moral or political message in mind. In the generation before me, it was (apparently) all about the glories of British civilization; in my generation, as a corrective, it was all about the contributions of natives, women and minorities. Being preached at, however worthy the topic, is boring. 2. Some teachers are just not very inspiring. Luck of the draw, that. 3. Most of all, learning history is (to my mind) somewhat like learning a language; you need to know a certain amount just to put new stuff you are learning in context. It is the _relationship_ between things that makes it interesting. Otherwise, it can seem like a bunch of unconnected events and dates - just a meaningless jumble. Learning the basics is just not going to be as much fun - it’s like the difference beween learing verb endings and having an interesting conversation in (say) French. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-what-perspective-is-the-american-revolutionary-war-taught-to-british-schoolchildren/545456.md?page=14)